


Five People to Whom Leia and Rey Talk About Each Other (+ One Time They Talk to One Another)

by humansandotherpeople



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 5+1 Things, Dialogue Heavy, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-06-06 01:43:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6732931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humansandotherpeople/pseuds/humansandotherpeople
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In conversation with Han, Maz, Luke, Poe, Kylo, and each other, Rey and Leia learn a lot about each other and about their feelings.</p><p>Set during and after The Force Awakens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leia talks to Han (and Chewie); Rey talks to Han (and Finn)

Han

"Our son. He was here."   
Leia gave him a little smile that was almost more cocky than sad. "I know, Han. I felt him. I thought I'd be here in time, but…" She shook her head, then looked at him intently. "I also felt something else. Something bright. I'd say it was my hope of finding Luke," she nodded, pointedly, at BB-8, "but no, that wasn't it. It was a person. Somebody important."   
That look again. Han didn't know what he should make of it.   
"Me?", he said incredulously.   
"No, not you, laserbrain!" She bumped his shoulder with her fist while walking past him. Well. At least he had amused her. She kept talking as if she had no doubt he would follow, and so he did. "Somebody strong in the Force. Well, there's Maz, but she's different. And she's still here. Whereas they left with… him."   
Leia gave orders left and right, some out loud, some with hand signals: Take them to our medical facilities; make a trip over to the next island for support, but be quick; no, they can look after themselves, go looking for downed fighters in the woods instead; no, thank you, no stormtrooper prisoners this time.   
Exasperatedly, Han noted that she was treating the Falcon as one of her resources without even bothering to ask him. Sure, he could see she would need the space, maybe even the speed, if it came to that. And it wasn't like he wouldn't have relented, had she asked. But at least he could have warned her how easily trackable his old ship had become. He hadn't even finished the thought, let alone opened his mouth, and she had already ordered some of her troops to search the Falcon (or "the old rustbucket", as she worded it, affectionately, he liked to think) for trackers and accidental signal emitters. Huh. Well, okay then. Fair enough.   
Somehow Han found a moment when nobody looked to Leia to organise the aftermath of the attack, and offered: "He was carrying the girl, Rey, like _he_ thought she was important. Maybe she _is_ one of you people." He waved his hand around in a poor imitation of a force grip.   
Leia turned to him. "You know her?"   
Han shrugged. He didn't know whether to be glad that they were talking about something other than Ben. "Since today. Not long enough to notice she's _important_ and magical -"   
Of course Chewie surfaced from somewhere at that, carrying Maz although he should be minding his injuries, and howled.   
"So she is. So she is," Han appeased him. "She stole the Falcon and she found your droid."   
Chewie added something, growling.   
"So I did. Because she flies her like she was born to do it. Chewie likes her," Han confided.   
Chewbacca had one last grunted addition to make.   
"Would I now," said Leia with a smile.

 

Han, again

Rey had been a bit overwhelmed by everything, to be honest. Hiding from the First Order in their own base. Being reunited with Finn and Han and Chewie. Seeing snow for the first time. Snow! It was water, but fluffy! She hadn't believed that it was water at first, but when she had caught a flake in her palm it had turned into proper droplets that she could lick off. And it glittered like so many precious datacrystals, and it looked like stars in the depths of space in Finn's hair, and it crunched underfoot, and you could shape things out of handfuls of it...   
After they had trudged through the stuff towards the falcon for some time it had lost most of its appeal, it had been some time since they had had to hide from the last patrol, and Rey had calmed down enough to ask her friends some coherent questions. It took a while to catch up on everything that had happened since they had been separated. Among other things, five planets had been blown up; Poe Dameron, BB-8's owner and Finn's saviour, had turned out to be alive; and Han had seen his son, a snippet of information he seemed to both care deeply and not want to talk about. But the news Rey was most relieved to hear was that BB-8 had made it through all that safely, had been reunited with their owner, and had completed their very important mission.   
"The ball managed to bring the General the chart alright. Not that it's been very much use to her so far," said Han.   
"That's General _Leia Organa,_ by the way," interjected Finn in a reverent tone.   
"You're kidding, right? The rebel princess?" asked Rey.   
"Senator of the Empire, Rebel Princess, Leader of the Alderaanian Diaspora, Huttslayer, Senator of the New Republic, General of the Resistance. Skywalker," said Han ponderously.   
"Right. All the legends are true." Rey laughed and shook her head. "And she's really all of that, _and_ Luke Skywalker's sister? Then you knew her, obviously, if you knew him."   
"Knew her? I married the woman." Han stared off into the distance, just like he had when he had talked about his son earlier on. "So that part doesn't make it into the tales they tell around the watering-holes of Jakku, does it?"   
Rey looked genuinely shocked. She cast a glance in Finn's direction. "You didn't know about this, did you?"   
"No, I didn't," Finn said, "though honestly, nothing these people say can surprise me anymore."   
"So, why didn't you want to come to the resistance base, then? To your… wife?" Rey giggled. "Sorry. This is just so weird. I used to pretend I was rescuing Princess Leia from the evil Empire in the flight simulator, you know."   
"Did you?" Han gave her an unreadable look. "Well I used to be the real deal. Unless _she_ was rescuing _me,_ which happened a lot. That Hutt she killed? She and that crazy twin brother of hers got it in their heads to rescue me from him..." He trailed off.   
Rey kept looking up at him, in expectation of more stories of his glamorous past or an answer to her question, either would do. Han sighed.   
"It didn't work out between us. She was amazing, and of course I loved her. Who wouldn't? And I like to think I was pretty amazing, too. But sometimes that's not enough. I guess she has that pilot now…"   
Rey didn't quite know what to say to that. She went for, "But you saw her anyway, didn't you? At the Resistance base? How is she?" and regretted it almost immediately. But Han did not seem to take offence.   
"In control," he said. "And placing an almost irresponsible amount of confidence in me. Again."   
Then the hulking shape of the thermal oscillator came into sight behind a ridge, and the conversation took a different turn.


	2. Leia talks to Maz; Rey talks to Luke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To be a Jedi, or not to be a Jedi, that is the question.

Maz

Leia was glad that Maz was on the Resistance base. Perhaps selfishly so, seeing as how she would not have had to seek refuge here if her home had not been destroyed. But it was good to not be alone in those quiet moments when organising the Resistance could not occupy all of her mind after what had happened. Now that Chewbacca and Rey had left for Luke, Maz would join her with a bottle of Corellian whiskey in those moments. Whether in memory of Han, or of her sanctuary on Takodana, which had served the drink in copious amounts, or just to spoil her, Leia didn't know. Nevertheless, she appreciated it, and the small ex-pirate's company.   
Even though she never held back when it came to asking emotionally charged questions. And occasionally answering them herself when answers were not forthcoming.   
"Why did you not go with the girl to your brother? I know you wanted to," said Maz, inspecting Leia over the rim of the glass of whiskey that looked too big in her hands.   
"I have my reasons," retorted Leia, head held high. She sat with her feet tucked under her, but still quite primly.   
"Ah, yes." Small orange fingers patted her arm. "I expected you to say you were needed here. But that was close enough, I suppose. The truth," Maz leaned forward, adjusted the lenses of her goggles. "is that you have made a connection with the girl, in the force. You want to see if you can break it by sending her half a galaxy away, as far away as Luke."   
Maz' tone was calm and earnest enough that Leia's first instinct wasn't to argue with that. "As a matter of fact, I _am_ needed here. But that may also have been one of my reasons."   
Maz tsked and drained her glass, eyes closed. She shook her head slowly. "You remind me of the Jedi sometimes, child. But we are no Jedi. We use the Force as we see fit. No order, no rules. Use it for small pleasures..." Leia found her as yet untouched glass hovering under her nose and couldn't help grinning as she plucked it out of the air and drank. "… or for strange new bonds. Why not? It hasn't done me harm, these past thousand years."   
Leia sighed into her whiskey. "Well, _this_ bond I formed when I felt that Han was no longer there. And I knew that. Well." She drank, braced herself for what she was about to say. "That Ben had killed him. So I tried to reach out to him, but there was only absence. An emptiness where my son should be. And instead of him, there was her. So bright in the Force, and feeling all the same grief, and shock, and, and _horror_ that I was. And when she actually landed on D'Qar I ran straight for her. I believe she was drawn to me too, but maybe that was just some holovid she's seen where I'm the hero." A sad little smile, then she shook her head. She had crumpled in on herself. Finally, she had let grief ruin her immaculate posture. "I didn't even _consider_ Chewie. I've known him for decades, for Force's sake. And he had just seen the child he helped raise run a 'saber through his best friend."   
Leia looked at Maz helplessly. At some point during the monologue, the latter had pushed her goggles off of her face. Her eyes did not look so inquisitive now, boring holes into the subject of her scrutiny, only mild and kind and very, very old.   
"Look," Maz said, "You will not get your husband back…"   
"Who said I wanted him back?" interrupted Leia. "The… the nerfherder." The word came out with a little sob. She dabbed at her eyes. "I just didn't want him to _die_."   
Maz expertly poured them both more whiskey. "He will not come back to you, as husband, friend or ally. And I sense you still have hope for your son, but maybe he will not come back to you, either. But I am certain you will get your brother back soon."   
"Oh yes, because sending people I care for to get my lost relatives has been working out so well in the recent past." Leia buried her face in her hands.   
"I do not think Luke will kill Rey," said Maz. Leia laughed into her hands at that. "And is that not another of your _reasons_ , to prove to yourself that Rey will return? And she will return. This new bond you _will_ get back."   
"I don't want to replace Ben," muttered Leia. Her voice was very weak.   
Maz hugged her around the waist, then. After that, they drank in silence for a long while.

After some time and a lot of whiskey Leia and Maz were giggling because they had attempted to sing a long, solemn shanty from Corellia that neither of them knew particularly many words to for the last few minutes. Once the giggles had ebbed away, Maz bumped Leia's arm with a tiny fist. "So, you do not want to replace your son. But what about replacing the nerfherder, eh?"   
Leia laughed. "What, with _Rey?_ You might not have noticed this, Maz, but she is a bright, strong, young heroine, and I'm a sour old politician."   
"Oh, do not worry. You are both very young," said Maz in a very serious, though somewhat slurred voice.   
That made Leia laugh again. "Maybe. But all humans are."   
"Yes." Maz nodded and smiled at her mildly. "That is why we have to look after you."

 

Luke

Rey started feeling a bit silly under Luke Skywalker's scrutiny, still holding out that lightsaber.   
"Take it, it's yours," she finally broke the silence.   
And then Luke smiled, eyes cast downward. "Oh no, it isn't. It's my father's. I have my own."   
He walked right past her, leaving her standing with her hand outstretched, now an offering to nobody, and feeling even sillier. She clipped the lightsaber to her belt, turned, and hurried after him, groaning internally as she saw him heading to the top of the very stairs she had just climbed. But she wasn't going to let some flights of stairs come between her and _Luke Skywalker._   
When she had caught up to him she tilted her head, squinted at him, and said: "Pack your _own lightsaber_ , then, come with me and join the Resistance."   
At that point Rey was almost certain that he would reject the proposal. So it surprised her somewhat when he asked why he should. Not even dismissively. He sounded like he wanted to be persuaded.   
Rey took a moment to consider her answer. She thought about telling him about the threat the First Order posed, about the fallen Republic, of the hope that knowing a _Jedi_ was on their side could inspire in their allies, the fear it would cause their enemies. Then she went with what seemed, for some unfathomable reason, the most important.   
"Your sister misses you."   
"Why is she not telling me that herself, then?"   
Rey had a feeling that somewhere far away Leia had had difficulties answering that same question. She wondered whether that was just a normal hunch, or the Force telling her something, or whether maybe all hunches were down to the Force on some level.   
"I don't know," she said.   
Luke stopped, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her. They were no longer on the stairs, thank the Force, but on a flat mountain trail that led away from them along low rough stone walls. Rey thought back intently to what impression Leia had given her when talking about her brother, and finally came to the conclusion: "I suppose she is still angry with you because you turned your back on her. And maybe she doesn't want to risk a fight with you that might make you not want to come back."   
That answer seemed to satisfy Luke. At least he walked on after it.   
A little while later Luke ducked into a narrow doorway. Rey hesitated.   
"Come on in," he called to her.    
The chamber was half built into the mountain, half out of those old stone walls that littered the island, not very spacious, not very well lit, and it smelled wonderful.   
Rey followed the smell more than Luke to a large pot that he was stirring.   
"What _is_ that?" Rey asked.   
"Stew," answered Luke. That obviously didn't get the recognition he had expected, so he supplemented: "Food. I left it… well, stewing, while I meditated. It's done now. Will you join me for a meal?"   
Now, it would never have occurred to Rey to complain about the canned rations she'd got on D'Qar, or even the ration bars and instabread aboard the Millennium Falcon, both had been vastly better than what she had had on Jakku, and most importantly, everybody assured her that she could have as much of it as she wanted. (As long as she ate slowly, Doctor Kalonia had warned, and took breaks, and didn't forget the pills that would help her stomach adjust more quickly.) But this "stew" was heaven. Even the fruit and nibbles she had tasted on Takodana paled in comparison.   
Luke seemed amused by her enthusiasm. Rey managed to look inquisitive enough with her mouth full to make him explain: "When I first met my Master, Yoda, he offered me a stew much like this one. I didn't enjoy it as much as you. But maybe the roots you find on Ahch-To are just that much tastier than the ones from Dagobah, and I was not that spoiled after all."   
Rey nodded along, even though she could not believe that anyone could dislike anything even remotely similar to this stew.   
"Leia has sent you to me because she thinks I've become like Yoda: Unwilling to go out and be a Jedi, but ready to pass on the torch to someone young and strong with the Force. She sees something great in you, and she hoped I would see the same."   
Rey knew it was true and her stomach knotted at the words. Whether because she had overdone it with the food or for some completely different reason, she could not tell.   
"And do you?" she asked.   
"I see the Force gather around you. I don't see that you're destined to be a great Jedi, or that I'm going to teach you." His tone was very earnest.   
Rey's spoon clattered into her empty bowl. She looked at him speechlessly.   
Luke reached out and laid a hand – the one that wasn't made of metal, she noticed – on her shoulder. "Now, not being a Jedi doesn't mean you can't do great things with the Force. Just look at my sister. She's not a Jedi and she can throw off a hundred stormtrooper's aim at once – maybe a thousand. I could never dream of doing something like that."   
Rey lowered her head, tried to accept this. "But then what am I here for?"   
"To taste my stew, obviously." Luke grinned. "And to fetch me, of course. I'm coming with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maz was a lot of fun to write once I got over the urge to make her use yodaspeak. Still not sure I got Luke right. I hope you enjoy.


	3. Rey talks to Poe, Leia talks to Luke

Poe

"... And of all the men I've ever crushed on, he's got to be the sweetest. Who would have thought? A stormtrooper!" From explaining the intricacies of an X-wing engine, Poe had somehow meandered to the intricacies of his budding relationship with their mutual friend Finn, as happened a lot lately.  
"Wait a minute." Rey's machine oil stained face peeked out from between engine parts and Poe found himself scrutinized with the same intense curiosity that his X-wing had been party to a moment before. "You were never interested in women at all?"  
"No, not me. Why?" Poe raised an eyebrow.  
"What about... the General?" Rey fixed her eyes on the engine again, but did not pay it the same attention as earlier.  
"What about her?" he asked. Then he made the connection. "Oh. Oh! How would you get that idea?"  
"Well... the way you look at her..." Rey fiddled with cables without really looking.  
"She's my idol. Has been since I was little. I respect her. You know, as everybody should. She's a hero! But not like... never mind that she's a woman, she's way too old for me. Not like she hasn't aged well..." He trailed off again. Then he noticed that Rey had blushed.  
She shook her head as if to get rid of a persistent thought. Her hair buns bobbed.  
Poe grinned at her.  
"What?!", she asked, blushing harder.  
"You were projecting! You were projecting your crush on General Organa onto me!" He patted her head, managing to get even more machine oil into her hair in the process.  
"I never," she protested weakly, a smile creeping into her eyes.  
"Well, how did you get that idea, then?", he asked.  
"Well. Han might have said something about her and a pilot? So I might have been watching the pilots. A bit." She went back to inspecting the X-wing's engine so she didn't have to see Poe's amusement on his face, lifting a bunch of fuel hoses to peek under them. Just as she'd expected, the minor acceleration regulation system was hidden under there. She busied herself cleaning residue out of the tubing, switching some of the tubes with each other in the process.  
"The General and a pilot? Other than the late Han Organa-Solo himself? Not me, that much I know. I don't… Oh! He must have meant Evaan Verlaine."  
Rey's shoulders sagged. She let go of the fuel hoses. They fell back into the engine in a disorganised heap. "So… they are an item, then?"  
"They are sort of…" Poe gesticulated, then shrugged. "On and off as far as I know? On whenever they meet, which isn't all that often. I wouldn't necessarily say an item, just like I wouldn't think of Verlaine as a pilot first."  
"What is he first, then?" Rey's full attention was on Poe again, but her hands still deep in machinery.  
"She's a politician. A leader of people, like the General. An important figure for the Alderaanian diaspora. They both have important jobs on different sides of the galaxy, that's why they don't get more involved."  
Rey perked up somewhat at the pronoun, then looked crestfallen again. "The Alderaanian diaspora..." she echoed, then shook her head. "And of course she's dating another _legend_."  
Poe grinned knowingly. "Come on, you were relieved to hear that she's not taken, _and_ that she's no stranger to going out with women. And I have a feeling you're going to become a legend in your own right sooner rather than later."  
"It's still hopeless," Rey said through gritted teeth, vehemently pulling at a tube. "You said it yourself – _you're_ too young for her. No offence, but then what am I?"  
Poe laughed. "I think first and foremost _you_ have to be comfortable with the age difference, and let her know that you are. And even if she isn't – I'm sure she'd at least be flattered to know how you feel."  
"Really? I -"  
Suddenly the tube came loose in Rey's hand with a resounding _clank_.  
"Not to call your mechanical skill into question here," said Poe, "but what exactly are you doing to my X-wing?"  
"Making it run smoother." Rey tossed the piece of tubing over her shoulder and connected the loose ends directly. "I think. If you don't want to risk test flying it with my alterations, I'd be glad to do the honours."

 

Luke, again

Leia's step was measured as she entered the room, and yet Luke read such an urgency both from her expression and her Force signature that he immediately left R2, 3PO, and BB-8 beeping and fussing at the place where he had been and hurried towards her. He expected to hear of an emergency, though perhaps one that held chances for them, as Leia seemed… hopeful. Perhaps an attack by a force they could defeat, and thus deal a setback to their enemies. Always the strategist, his sister.  
Instead, Leia checked that nobody was in earshot, or, in case of the droids, in auditory-receptor-shot, and asked: "Do you have any children?"  
Luke was mildly taken aback. "No."  
"Are you sure? Could you have children, that you may not know about?"  
"Leia, I'm gay," Luke said gravely.  
"I know, I know. I was just making sure. Because things do happen, you know."  
"Not to me they don't. Not those things," Luke said vehemently. "What in the _Galaxy_ has brought this on?"  
"Rey. Rey has."  
"What did _she_ do to bring this on, then?"  
Leia seemed flustered. "It's not so much what she did, more who she could be. You've seen her, what she can do with the Force. Hells, you've felt her. I've never come across anyone who shines like her. Outside of… our family."  
"Then why wait until now to confirm your suspicion that she is my secret daughter? And, just to reassure you, no, there is definitely no way that she is."  
"Oh, I thought it was unlikely that she was, but…"  
"Now you need to be sure for some reason." Leia could tell that Luke had almost pieced it together by now, if not entirely. There was no going back now.  
"Well." Leia hesitated. "I've felt a bond with her from the start. Apparently she did too. And…" She checked over Luke's shoulder again, saw that the droids were still both out of hearing range and busy talking to each other, and lowered her voice anyway. "She kissed me, and it wouldn't have been the first time someone'd mistaken a family connection for something else." She became even quieter. "It wouldn't even have been the first time I'd mistaken a family connection for something else."  
Luke took a deep breath. "No, I don't suppose you feel connected because you're family."  
"No. Well. It isn't that, then." Leia couldn't hide her relief.  
"Wait. Did you just come to me right after she kissed you and leave her standing there?"  
"That's not exactly how it-"  
"Go to her, Leia," Luke said and pressed her shoulder reassuringly. "Go to her."


	4. Leia talks to Poe; Rey talks to Kylo

Poe, again

As soon as Poe left hyperspace, the holonet connection reestablished itself and General Organa's hologram crackled into being. Poe started reporting immediately.  
“Red team mission accomplished, General. More than accomplished, really. Snoke is dead!” He grinned wildly. “Though that wasn't technically us. Also, I have a high profile... hostage on board, _that_ wasn't planned. Guest. Whatever. How did your part go? I mean, we noticed the shields coming down, thank you, but after that?”  
“We lost three ships, but we took out the Finalizer.” Leia shifted, looked around, lowered her voice. “How is Rey?”  
“With all due respect, ma'am...” Poe's grin still hadn't subsided, though it was now more fond than madly enthusiastic. “Your concern for your girlfriend is really cute. She's fine. They're all fine, as a matter of fact. I always want those Jedi types assigned to my team from now on.”  
“They aren't Jedi, except for Luke. They are _Force users._ ”  
“Yes, well, we've landed ourselves a couple of pretty impressive _Force users_ , you and me both. Of course you are one yourself, ma'am, so mine's the bigger achievement.” He winked at her.  
The hologram wagged a finger at him playfully. “I'll let you get away with that, young man. But surely you have more to report than what the Force tells me anyway? I know she isn't dead. But I can't reach her on her own fighter's comm, and I feel that she is troubled. Was she wounded?”  
“No, she's – in trouble, you say?” Alarmed, Poe twisted around in his seat, reached behind himself, and opened the hatch to the hold and the gunner's position a fraction. He breathed out with relief when he saw that his two passengers were still there, unharmed, and not at each other's throats. He closed the hatch again and turned back to the General's hologram, fixing his hair. “She's keeping an eye on our guest, and talking to him. I can see why it would upset her, but I don't think she's in danger. Despite what my reaction just now would have you believe. Reflexes, you know.”  
“Just who…?”  
“Kylo Ren.”  
“Oh.” Leia swallowed. “I… see.”  
There was silence for a few moments, then Poe explained: “We had to improvise somewhat – while Finn was taking down the command center with Skywalker, Rey and I had a run-in with some Knights of Ren. Her fighter got disabled, but we fought them off on the ground. Or she did, really. Lightsabers and superpowers are quite something.” Leia nodded at that with grim approval. “We followed a wounded one into this dark temple. Where… your son had used the chaos we caused as an opportunity to stab his master in the back.”  
“Did he come willingly?”  
“He wasn't thrilled, but he didn't seem to like his alternatives much, either. Also, I don't really know what goes on between two Jed- Force users like that, but either Rey convinced him in a silent mind-reader argument, or she beat him in a duel of pure telepathic energy or something. They stared at each other for a solid five standard minutes, then he followed her.”  
Leia shifted, visibly worried. “How...” She interrupted herself. “More importantly, are -” Finally, she ended on: “Just bring them back to me quickly, understand, Dameron?”  
Poe nodded. “Aye, aye, General.”

 

Kylo

They sat as far away from each other as they could in the small hold. There was crisp, deadly tension in the air, but whether from the Force or just from pent-up emotions and unsaid words Rey couldn't quite make out. But she didn't care, she wasn't going to ask _Kylo Ren_ about -  
“It's not the Force,” he said, flatly.  
Rey decided not to dignify his showing off with a reaction. She could pick up stray surface thoughts just as well as he could. In fact, she found it hard to avoid the vivid image of Kylo's blade burning through his master, Snoke, that kept repeating itself in his mind, sometimes overlayed with the murder of his father.  
She knew flashes of the past of this kind as a sign of distress, and her instinct usually was to reach out and comfort those who had them. This balanced out the instinct to use everything she had against Han's murderer, Poe's torturer, the monster that had hunted her. If Rey hadn't been able to feel the flares of overwhelming guilt that accompanied Han's image in Kylo's mind, if he hadn't killed Snoke, if Leia didn't care about him, the latter would have won out easily. On the other hand, Kylo's continued abrasiveness and unwillingness to make any attempt at apology kept the first instinct from taking over. If he wanted her to treat him like her partner's son – her stepson, strange as that thought was – he ought to try and behave like someone who deserved a mother like Leia first.  
That was not happening. Instead, disdain showed around Kylo's mouth and radiated off him in the Force before he stated, glaring at Rey from under his brow: “So you're fucking my mother.”  
“Yes,” hissed Rey through clenched teeth, barely holding back from attacking him bodily, but unable to let another provocation slide unanswered, “I'm making her happy, unlike _you_.”  
“So angry.” He was not looking at Rey now, but down, inward, his voice barely more than a mumble. “Shouldn't you be grateful that I freed up the position for you?”  
Without any clear recollection of how she got there, Rey stood over him, shouting down at his practically balled-up form: “I'm not grateful! Because I love her! I love her and she's distraught, you've _shattered_ something inside her; you can't begin to make up for that and you're not even _kriffing_ trying...”  
Kylo was cowering quiet and motionless except for a barely noticeable tremble. Rey was coming to the realisation that he hadn't provoked her looking for a fight, but for exactly this: Being screamed at, possibly beaten, possibly killed. Some form of punishment he could take without defending himself.  
Rey forced herself to breathe evenly, to make way for thoughts that weren't infused with anger. There was no anger or irritation enveloping Kylo in the Force now either, as there had been before, just emptiness. Her tension eased. She let herself sink down to sit cross-legged next to Leia's son.  
“It's not like I wouldn't have had a chance with Han still alive. They weren't exclusive. They were barely even _speaking_.”  
Kylo remained silent.  
“Nevertheless she was heartbroken. Still is,” Rey continued.  
Something between a strangled breath and a very quiet sob wrung itself from Kylo's throat. Rey didn't let it stop her.  
“Over Han's death, of course. But also over the rift you opened between the two of you widening. I don't know whether she can allow it to close now, and neither does she, I think. But she wants you back so desperately, and she'll be glad that you're making something of an effort to cross it.”  
Rey joined Kylo in his silence for a while. Then he glanced at her for a second. Immediately after he cast his gaze downward again. Rey took it as a cue to conclude the thought.  
“And I'm glad, too. I've so often found myself wishing she didn't have a child who hurt her so much, you know. And now maybe, just maybe, she'll have a chance to get to know what having a better son is like. There's hope.”


End file.
